Here's how every Fire Emblem game runs on Switch 2 – FE Three Houses, Warriors, Three Hopes, Engage, and More

After tackling the Tales of, Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, and Xenoblade, my newest Nintendo Switch 2 backward compatibility feature covers another one of my favorite RPG franchises with Fire Emblem. There are quite a few Fire Emblem games available on Nintendo Switch through native releases and Nintendo Switch Online. As with the earlier features, I will be comparing load times, performance, and more when testing on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. Today's feature includes Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem Warriors, Fire Emblem Engage, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, and more.

As with past features, I will also be going over what I'd like to see in any potential official upgrades or Nintendo Switch 2 Edition releases for the Fire Emblem games. For the load time testing today, I've used the digital version of each game installed to the Nintendo Switch 2 internal memory and the SD card on Nintendo Switch OLED. I've also made sure to mash A to speed up any loading and avoid the publisher and developer logos if possible. 

How does Fire Emblem: Three Houses run on Nintendo Switch 2?

As much as I love Fire Emblem: Three Houses with hundreds of hours played, it was a technical mess on Switch with unstable performance and generally poor visuals. I got used to the lack of proper or any anti-aliasing and the bad draw distance, but performance was always a problem while moving around the Monastery and in some combat animations. Even moving the cursor in battles felt sluggish in parts. On Switch 2, there isn't much to be said about the visuals since it looks basically the same, but the big improvement is in performance which now seems to hold 30fps almost across the board with some minor hitching in parts. In the few save files of mine across different points in the game I loaded to check, it holds up well and loads much quicker than on Switch 1.

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

What we want from a Fire Emblem: Three Houses Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

I think Fire Emblem: Three Houses, like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, deserves a full new version on Switch 2 with 60fps support, 1440p to 4K docked, 1080p handheld, and some good anti-aliasing. There isn't any need to change the game itself, but I wouldn't complain if there's added content in a potential new version. If a paid upgrade or patch is considered, just having a 60fps cap and higher resolution would be good enough. I adore this game and would happily replay it.

How does Fire Emblem Engage run on Nintendo Switch 2?

Fire Emblem Engage didn't really struggle on Switch 1. It held its 30fps target well and looked great docked and handheld with only some situations where it looked a bit soft. Fire Emblem Engage's main boost on Switch 2 is in its load times that improve across the board. There isn't much else to say since it was a good experience on Switch 1 that sees a more stable experience that loads faster with less hitching when played on Switch 2. 

Note: All load times above are in seconds. The time to load a battle also includes the time to connect online.

What we want from a Fire Emblem Engage Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

Fire Emblem Engage is the best-looking Fire Emblem game on Switch by far, and it really would benefit from improved draw distance, 60fps, and support for 1080p handheld and 1440p or higher docked. Those would be great to see in a potential Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade or a free patch with just improved resolution and draw distance. Engage's art direction would also benefit a lot from proper HDR support.

How does Fire Emblem Warriors run on Nintendo Switch 2?

Fire Emblem Warriors on Switch 1 offered a Quality mode targeting 30fps and a Performance mode targeting 60fps with a reduced resolution. This was only available in docked mode and those target frame rates were never met 100% of the time. In handheld mode, the game only had a single mode targeting 30fps with a resolution that looked below native, but not too low. On Switch 2, the target frame rate is met seemingly at all times with improved load times. I always thought Fire Emblem Warriors on Switch was one of the most-polished Warriors games when it comes to performance on the platform so it is good to see it run more stable than before on Switch 2 with faster loading.

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

What we want from a Fire Emblem Warriors Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

Given its age, I think the best possible outcome for Fire Emblem Warriors would be an update letting players use the quality mode with 60fps rather than deciding to play at a lower resolution with 60fps or a higher resolution with 30fps. It would also be good if a potential patch could allow for 1080p handheld play since the game is limited to a lower resolution with 30fps in handheld as a target. 

How does Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes run on Nintendo Switch 2?

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is another favorite of mine from Koei Tecmo's Warriors games in the last generation and while it struggled on Switch with its performance, things never reached an unplayable level like they did with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes mainly suffered in its visuals with what doesn't look like good anti-aliasing and a dynamic resolution.

On Switch 2, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes sees the biggest boost of all the games in this article with it hitting 60fps a lot which is a huge upgrade over the frame rate on Switch 1 which was in the 30s most of the time. I remember lamenting the lack of a 30fps cap option in this and funnily enough not having any frame rate cap has led to a huge performance boost on Switch 2. If you skipped this on Switch 1 and like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes on Switch 2 is essential. I also tested split-screen mode where it also runs much better than on Switch 1 across the board. I didn't play enough to say if it is a locked 60fps throughout, but it definitely felt close in my brief testing in that mode.

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

What we want from a Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes sees the biggest performance boost on Switch 2, but the image quality could be a lot better with a potential upgrade or patch. It also has too much aliasing which could be addressed in an upgrade or patch. I'd love for higher resolution as well if that was possible because Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is an excellent Warriors game not just for Fire Emblem fans. 

How does Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light run on Nintendo Switch 2?

I'm only including this here because I wanted to be thorough and include literally every Fire Emblem game I could, but the only thing to say about Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is that the scaling could be improved on Switch 2. It loads slightly faster on Switch 2 but otherwise delivers the same experience on both consoles.

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

What we want from a Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

There isn't really much to ask for here barring proper 4K scaling for docked play and 1080p scaling for handheld play. What I really want is for this to be made available again so that folks who didn't miss buying it before can buy it. I bought the Limited Edition and the digital release so I have it, but I know many who missed this. If that isn't possible, I'd love for this to be added to Nintendo Switch Online at least.

How does Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore run on Nintendo Switch 2?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore on the original Switch felt like it ran the same when played docked or handheld with a 720p target that also applied to the UI. This resulted in shimmering or a noisy overall image during movement. I ended up playing it more in handheld mode since that matched the screen resolution. When moving over to Switch 2, it looks the same as it does on Switch with no real improvement. The load times are slightly better, but this really is an example of a game that deserved much better on the original Switch. 

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

What we want from a Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade

I'd love for 1080p support in handheld and 1440p or 4K support docked in a potential Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore update or upgrade for Switch 2. I don't think it will get anything, but improved image quality would go a long way in making it look and feel better on Switch 2. The aesthetic already shines, but it is a shame that the game is capped to just 720p even today. 

How do the Nintendo Switch Online Fire Emblem games run on Nintendo Switch 2?

I'll revisit this when Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is added to the GameCube Nintendo Switch Online app, but there are still some Fire Emblem games across the other Nintendo Classics apps. These include Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light on the Famicom app, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem on the Super Famicom app, Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War on the Super Famicom App, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade on the Game Boy Advance app, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade on the Game Boy Advance app, and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on the Game Boy Advance app.

Only Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (titled Fire Emblem) and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones of these are available in English. The others are only in Japanese barring Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light if you bought the standalone digital release while it was available. Since these apps have not seen updates for Nintendo Switch 2, the only testing I could do is to check how they load on Switch 2 compared to on Switch 1. The apps take around 7 seconds to load on both Switch 2 and Switch 1 and the games load instantly. Barring that, I didn't notice any difference in the performance or load times within the games on Switch 1 compared to Switch 2.

What we want from Nintendo Switch Online Fire Emblem Games on Nintendo Switch 2

Just like Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade, I hope Nintendo updates the Family Computer, Super Famicom, and Game Boy Advance Nintendo Switch Online classics apps to better support 1080p handheld and 4K docked. I would also like the games that aren't localized to get English or EFIGS language support in the future.